Bulk-billing rise a boost to Medicare

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Bulk-billing has climbed for the first time since the Howard Government was elected in 1996, suggesting its new Medicare measures are working.

Bulk-billing by general practitioners jumped 1.8 percentage points between December and the end of March, from 66.5 per cent of visits to 68.3 per cent.

The increase means there were 56,000 more bulk-billed consultations in the three months to March than in the same period last year.

However, the good news seems to be limited to children and pensioners - those who attract the Government's new $5 bulk-billing bonus to doctors.

Patients who weren't bulk-billed paid an average $14.92 out of their own pockets - almost a dollar more than in the December quarter.

This unusually large rise suggests doctors are collecting the $5 bonus payment to bulk-bill children and concessional patients but raising out-of-pocket charges to everyone else.

However, the rise represents a major turnaround for the Government, which has suffered regular bad press over the plunging rate. It is bad news for Labor, which has pegged its health strategy on reviving bulk-billing.

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Health Minister Tony Abbott said the bulk-billing rate was 68.7 per cent when figures included consultations by practice nurses who, under MedicarePlus, can collect a rebate for basic GP duties such as immunisations.

"It suggests MedicarePlus is working and I think it demonstrates that the Government is committed to ensuring bulk-billing remains widely available," he said.

People over 65, most of whom qualify as concessional patients, had a bulk-billing rate of 76.9 per cent, up 2.9 percentage points on December.

Labor health spokeswoman Julia Gillard said the big increase in co-payments for patients who were not bulk-billed showed MedicarePlus was creating two classes of patients.

"It was always Tony Abbott's plan to split the Medicare system into a two-tiered system... and on these figures you can see the start of that divide," she said.

The rate is likely to climb further because the $5 incentive came in on February 1 and, therefore, covered only two months of the March quarter. Also, it was raised to $7.50 in rural areas on May 1.

But Australian Medical Association vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal said the increase would not last. It would start to fall once the sweeteners were swallowed up by spiralling practitioner costs.

"I expect the bulk-billing rate to increase for at least the next two quarters, then level off before decreasing again," he said.

"Medicare has simply not kept pace with the costs of providing general practice services."

Catholic Health Australia chief Francis Sullivan said it was heartening to see the rise,but he agreed with Dr Haikerwal that it might be temporary.

Victorian Medicare Action Group spokesman Rod Wilson said it was a disappointing result. "The real story is the out-of-pocket expenses," he said. "The indication is that the Commonwealth Government is heading down that user-pays road."